“I may actually have to dress appropriately to go to the store now because everyone I know is going to be there.”
– Laham Development vice president Cathy Erickson, who is considering ditching her sweats on June 20 when the new Fresh Market grocery store opens at Bradley Fair
WICHITA — Two years after opening Frozen in Time, A Scrapbook Boutique, owner Joni Berblinger Stolz is closing the shop at 2404 N. Maize Road.
She says she’s found that running a store in addition to already having a full-time job – she’s an engineer at Spirit AeroSystems – is too much.
“Sales were good, we had great customers. … It’s a great location,” Berblinger Stolz says. “I just couldn’t put into it what I needed.”
Berblinger Stolz also has a 12-year-old son. For the first year of her store, she says she missed too many of his sporting events. Then, she had others fill in for her at the shop. As the owner, though, Berblinger Stolz says she found customers expected to see her at the business.
May 27 is Frozen In Time’s last day in business.
Berblinger Stolz had a couple of people interested in buying the store, but it didn’t work out.
“I’d still consider it,” she says. “It’s a great shop. It’s a good deal for someone if they’re looking to get into that.”
WICHITA — Clifton Square at 3700 E. Douglas is going to be the new home of the Wichita Jazz Festival office.
Executive director Craig Owens has been running the 41-year-old group from his office at Wichita State University where he’s director of the jazz studies program and teaches jazz guitar.
“It’s just important for the festival to have its own office,” Owens says. “It’s just the next natural step in the development of our organization.”
The group, which has a weeklong festival every April and educational activities throughout the year, also is adding staff for the new office.
Clifton Square developer Jo Zakas says the Wichita Jazz Festival will help her celebrate the center’s 40th birthday this fall.
“I would like to have a citywide community jazz day at Clifton Square,” she says. “We’ll just make it an all-day thing.”
Zakas says she’s surprised Clifton Square has been around so long. Then she rethinks it.
“I knew we’d be here this long. I’m just surprised it came so quickly.”
UPDATED — At one point, Total Printing Solutions had been in negotiations to buy Sign Pro, but it didn’t work out.
Then, last month, after seeing an item in Have You Heard? that Sign Pro was facing eviction and appeared to be out of business, Total Printing Solutions again looked into buying Sign Pro’s assets.
This time, it worked.
In addition to allowing “some sorely needed expansion to pick up more capacity” along with potential new customers, the purchase is important for previous Sign Pro customers, says Frank Ellis, who is in sales and marketing for Total Printing Solutions.
“We want to be sure that those customers that had done business with Sign Pro know that … we potentially have access to all their electronic production files.”
Ellis previously owned Jet Digital Printing & Signs, and he says it was important to him to take his customer base to Total Printing Solutions “in an effort to make sure our customers didn’t go through the same thing Sign Pro’s customers are now.”
The more than 30-year-old Total Printing Solutions, which is at 1325 E. Douglas, purchased Sign Pro’s printing, cutting and installation equipment and computer technology and software inventory.
Ellis says high-volume decals are a strong niche for Total Printing Solutions, and that area likely will grow even further. He says the asset purchase also will help grow the company’s vehicle graphics and trade show graphics business.
“We’ve been a little restricted on our capacity, so it will help our capacity tremendously.”